Career
Sergeant Ashley Henson is a lifelong resident of Paulding County. He graduated from East Paulding High School with honors in 1996. After high school, he enrolled in college where he later graduated from the University of West Georgia with a Bachelor of Science in Criminology in December of 2000. In December of 2002 he graduated from the University of West Georgia with a Master of Arts in Sociology with an emphasis on Criminology. While he was finishing up his Master's Degree, he began his career with the Paulding County Sheriff's Office in September of 2002 under Sheriff Bruce Harris.
Paulding County Service
Sergeant Henson began his career with the Paulding County Sheriff's Office as a Jailer in the Paulding County Jail. After a brief time in the Jail, Sergeant Henson attended P.O.S.T. Basic Mandate Training and transferred to the Uniform Patrol Division. Sergeant Henson was later laterally transferred to the K-9 Division where he handled a dual purpose law enforcement K-9 under the direction of Captain Gary Gulledge prior to him being elected Sheriff. Sergeant Henson worked K-9 Grep where the two were responsible for locating hundreds of pounds of drugs and numerous criminals. Sergeant Henson worked in the K-9 Division for approximately eight years.
In January of 2012, Sergeant Henson was promoted to Corporal and tasked by Sheriff Gulledge as the full time Public Information Officer for the Paulding County Sheriff's Office. Sergeant Henson is responsible with being the point of contact between Sheriff Gulledge, the Sheriff's Office and the community both in the media and in the public. Sergeant Henson is very active in the community and serves on several boards and organizations in Paulding County. Sergeant Henson also maintains the Sheriff's Office Social Media pages as well as the agency website. He is also responsible for the creation of the uniform policy as well as the commendation and awards policy at the Sheriff’s Office.
In March of 2012, Sergeant Henson joined the SWAT Team where he was assigned to the sniper element. Currently, Sergeant Henson is the sniper team leader where he oversees and directs sniper operations for the SWAT Team. In November of 2022 he completed his final class and achieved the coveted P.O.S.T. SWAT Officer Certification. Sergeant Henson completed over 500 hours of training just for this certification and is only one of ten people to have ever achieved this certification in the entire State of Georgia. Sergeant Henson was also the driving force in the completion of grants through the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency (GEMA) which allowed the Sheriff's Office to receive a Lenco Bearcat G3 armored vehicle for the SWAT Team in March of 2022.
Sergeant Henson is a current participant of the esteemed Leadership Georgia program for 2023. This is a statewide leadership program that prepares strong and effective leaders for the future development of the State of Georgia. He is also a 2014 graduate of the Paulding Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Paulding 24 Class. Sergeant Henson is also involved in numerous local organizations and boards.
Local Boards/Organizations
- Leadership Georgia 23 Participant (2023)
- CareLink of Northwest Georgia Advisory Board Member
- Paulding County School District Superintendent's Advisory Board Member
- United Way of Paulding County Board Member (Chairman 2022/2023)
- Wellstar Paulding Hospital Regional Board Member
- Paulding Public Safety Appreciation, Inc. Agency Advisory Board Member
- Jess Rousey Honoring Heroes Foundation, Inc. Board Member
- University of West Georgia MA Advisory Board Member 2023
- Alcohol/Drug Awareness Program Host
- Paulding Board of Commissioners Employee of the Month Committee
- Paulding Comprehensive Transportation Plan Stakeholder Member 2012, 2022
- Leadership Paulding 24 Graduate (2014)
Training
Sergeant Henson has received over five thousand hours of Georgia Peace Officers Standards and Training Council (P.O.S.T.) certified training in his career. In addition to the training/certifications which are listed below, Sergeant Henson works hand in hand with all of the government entities in Paulding County to spread awareness about the Sheriff's Office and law enforcement operations. He also teaches active shooter training to civilian groups in Paulding County as well as the Paulding County Sheriff's Office Citizen's Handgun Safety Class.
-P.O.S.T. Master Instructor
-P.O.S.T Senior Instructor
-P.O.S.T. General Instructor
-P.O.S.T. Use of Force Instructor
-P.O.S.T. Driver Training Instructor
-P.O.S.T. Precision Immobilization Technique (P.I.T.) Instructor
-P.O.S.T. Defensive Tactics Instructor
-P.O.S.T. Firearms Instructor
-P.O.S.T. Shotgun Instructor
-P.O.S.T. SWAT Officer Certification
-C.R.A.S.E. Active Shooter Training Instructor
-A.L.I.C.E. Active Shooter Training Instructor
-P.O.S.T. Senior Deputy Certification
-P.O.S.T. Management Certification
-P.O.S.T. Supervisory Certification
-P.O.S.T. Advanced Certification
-P.O.S.T. Intermediate Certification
-P.O.S.T. Field Training Officer (FTO) Certification
-P.O.S.T. RADAR / LIDAR Certification
-P.O.S.T. Crisis Intervention Team Training (C.I.T)
-P.O.S.T. Basic Peace Officer Certification
-P.O.S.T. Jailer Certification
Personal
Sergeant Henson is married to his college sweetheart Jodie and they have two teenage boys, Asher and Breck. They reside just outside the City of Dallas on their family farm and are members of the Dallas First United Methodist Church. Their children are 9th generation Paulding Countians. Jodie is employed as an elementary school administrator with the Paulding County School District. Ashley enjoys coaching and watching youth sports in Paulding County and spending time with his family. They are avid skiers/snowboarders and enjoy time in the mountains of the western United States.